The present invention generally relates to securing protected data, such as protected health information.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) characterizes data that may identify an individual as protected health information (PHI). Dates such as a birthdate or a patient encounter date represent PHI and must be secured when stored, e.g. in a database. Storing data in a noncompliant (e.g. unsecured) manner could result in sizable penalty fees.
One common approach to securing PHI data is encryption. Encrypted data is generally recognized as secured when it can, for example, only be deciphered using complex mathematical algorithms and a predetermined key.
While encrypting PHI data satisfies HIPAA regulations, this approach, and in particular the eventually required decryption, can significantly impact system performance. The most significant impact occurs when encrypted data is required for a search or sort routine. The degraded results generally occur because a database system cannot leverage indexes of encrypted fields. As a result, the system must decrypt each record as it performs a full table scan, e.g. the system must decrypt and review every record, which is typically an extremely time consuming process.
Needs exists for improvement in securing protected data. These and other needs are addressed by one or more aspects of the present invention.